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FAA lifts ban on U.S. airlines flying into Iraq

The Federal Aviation Administration is lifting a 16-year-ban on U.S. commercial airlines flying into Iraq. In a final rule published in the Federal Register on Thursday, the FAA said that starting in January,

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FAA lifts ban on U.S. airlines flying into Iraq

For years, Iraqi Airways and Royal Jordanian were the only two companies to make regular passenger flights in and out of Iraq. Now the Federal Aviation Administration is allowing U.S. commercial flights fly into two northern Iraq airports, including this one in Erbil.(Photo: SAFIN HAMED AFP/Getty Images)

"The FAA has recently determined that a full flight prohibition is no longer necessary for these airports in Northern Iraq, and this action will allow flights to be conducted provided that certain measures are taken," the FAA said in its notice.

NBC News reports: "When the first Gulf War ended in 1991, the U.S. and its allies established no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq, but then-President Saddam Hussein told his air defense forces to ignore both zones and to attack 'any air target of the aggressors,' according to the FAA. The agency worried that the threat could apply to passenger flights, so the ban was put in place in 1996."

But the situation has changed since then. Northern Iraq is considered relatively safe, having severed ties with Hussein after the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War. It was spared much of the fighting that the capital, Baghdad, and other parts of the country endured during the 2003 war.

Bloomberg points out that "U.S. civilian flights have been allowed to operate over Iraq at altitudes above 20,000 feet (6,096 meters), and the FAA has granted permission for some commercial flights into that country under contract by the military or other agencies."

The Transportation Security Administration will also have to approve operations in Iraq.